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Ruin definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RU'IN, n. [L. ruo, to fall, to rush down.]
1. Destruction; fall; overthrow; defeat; that change of any thing which destroys it, or entirely defeats its object, or unfits it for use; as the ruin of a house; the ruin of a ship or an army; the ruin of a constitution of government; the ruin of health; the ruin of commerce; the ruin of public or private happiness; the ruin of a project.
2. Mischief; bane; that which destroys.
The errors of young men are the ruin of business.
3. Ruin, more generally ruins, the remains of a decayed or demolished city, house, fortress, or any work of art or other thing; as the ruins of Balbec, Palmyra or Persepolis; the ruins of a wall; a castle in ruins.
The labor of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.
4. The decayed or enfeebled remains of a natural object; as, the venerable old man presents a great mind in ruins.
5. The cause of destruction.
They were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 2 Chronicles 28.
RU'IN, v,t,
1. To demolish; to pull down, burn, or otherwise destroy; as, to ruin a city or an edifice.
2. To subvert; to destroy; as, to ruin a state or government.
3. To destroy; to bring to an end; as, to ruin commerce or manufactures.
4. To destroy in any manner; as, to ruin health or happiness; to ruin reputation.
5. To counteract; to defeat; as, to ruin a plan or project.
6. To deprive of felicity or fortune.
By thee rais'd I ruin all my foes.
Grace with a nod, and ruin with a frown.
7. To impoverish; as, to be ruined by speculation.
The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us.
8. To bring to everlasting misery; as, to ruin the soul.
RU'IN, v.i.
1. To fall into ruins.
2. To run to ruin; to fall into decay or be dilapidated.
Though he his house of polish'd marble build, yet shall it ruin like the moth's frail cell.
3. To be reduced; to be brought to poverty or misery.
If we are idle, and disturb the industrious in their business, we shall ruin the faster.
[Note. This intransitive use of the verb is now unusual.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction; "you have brought ruin on this entire family" [syn: ruin, ruination]
2: a ruined building; "they explored several Roman ruins"
3: the process of becoming dilapidated [syn: dilapidation, ruin]
4: an event that results in destruction [syn: ruin, ruination]
5: failure that results in a loss of position or reputation [syn: downfall, ruin, ruination]
6: destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined [syn: laying waste, ruin, ruining, ruination, wrecking] v
1: destroy completely; damage irreparably; "You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her make-up" [syn: destroy, ruin]
2: destroy or cause to fail; "This behavior will ruin your chances of winning the election"
3: reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him" [syn: bankrupt, ruin, break, smash]
4: reduce to ruins; "The country lay ruined after the war"
5: deprive of virginity; "This dirty old man deflowered several young girls in the village" [syn: deflower, ruin]
6: fall into ruin

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English ruine, from Anglo-French, from Latin ruina, from ruere to rush headlong, fall, collapse Date: 12th century 1. a. archaic a falling down ; collapse <from age to age…the crash of ruin fitfully resounds — William Wordsworth> b. physical, moral, economic, or social collapse 2. a. the state of being ruined — archaic except in plural <the city lay in ruins> b. the remains of something destroyed — usually used in plural <the ruins of an ancient temple> <the ruins of his life> 3. a cause of destruction 4. a. the action of destroying, laying waste, or wrecking b. damage, injury 5. a ruined building, person, or object • ruinate adjective • ruinate transitive verb II. verb Date: 1585 transitive verb 1. to reduce to ruins ; devastate 2. a. to damage irreparably b. bankrupt, impoverish <ruined by stock speculation> 3. to subject to frustration, failure, or disaster <will ruin your chances of promotion> intransitive verb to become ruined • ruiner noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a destroyed or wrecked state. 2 a person's or thing's downfall or elimination (the ruin of my hopes). 3 a the complete loss of one's property or position (bring to ruin). b a person who has suffered ruin. 4 (in sing. or pl.) the remains of a building etc. that has suffered ruin (an old ruin; ancient ruins). 5 a cause of ruin (will be the ruin of us). --v. 1 tr. a bring to ruin (your extravagance has ruined me). b utterly impair or wreck (the rain ruined my hat). 2 tr. (esp. as ruined adj.) reduce to ruins. 3 intr. poet. fall headlong or with a crash. Phrases and idioms: in ruins 1 in a state of ruin. 2 completely wrecked (their hopes were in ruins). Etymology: ME f. OF ruine f. L ruina f. ruere fall

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ruin Ru"in, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ruined;p. pr. & vb. n. Ruining.] [Cf. F. ruiner, LL. ruinare. See Ruin, n.] To bring to ruin; to cause to fall to pieces and decay; to make to perish; to bring to destruction; to bring to poverty or bankruptcy; to impair seriously; to damage essentially; to overthrow. this mortal house I'll ruin. --Shak. By thee raised, I ruin all my foes. --Milton. The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. --Franklin. By the fireside there are old men seated, Seeling ruined cities in the ashes. --Longfellow.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ruin Ru"in, n. [OE. ruine, F. ruine, fr. L. ruina, fr. ruere, rutum, to fall with violence, to rush or tumble down.] 1. The act of falling or tumbling down; fall. [Obs.] ``His ruin startled the other steeds.'' --Chapman. 2. Such a change of anything as destroys it, or entirely defeats its object, or unfits it for use; destruction; overthrow; as, the ruin of a ship or an army; the ruin of a constitution or a government; the ruin of health or hopes. ``Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!'' --Gray. 3. That which is fallen down and become worthless from injury or decay; as, his mind is a ruin; especially, in the plural, the remains of a destroyed, dilapidated, or desolate house, fortress, city, or the like. The Veian and the Gabian towers shall fall, And one promiscuous ruin cover all; Nor, after length of years, a stone betray The place where once the very ruins lay. --Addison. The labor of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character. --Buckminster. 4. The state of being dcayed, or of having become ruined or worthless; as, to be in ruins; to go to ruin. 5. That which promotes injury, decay, or destruction. The errors of young men are the ruin of business. --Bacon. Syn: Destruction; downfall; perdition; fall; overthrow; subversion; defeat; bane; pest; mischief.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ruin Ru"in, v. i. To fall to ruins; to go to ruin; to become decayed or dilapidated; to perish. [R.] Though he his house of polished marble build, Yet shall it ruin like the moth's frail cell. --Sandys. If we are idle, and disturb the industrious in their business, we shall ruin the faster. --Locke.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(ruins, ruining, ruined) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. To ruin something means to severely harm, damage, or spoil it. My wife was ruining her health through worry... VERB: V n 2. To ruin someone means to cause them to no longer have any money. She accused him of ruining her financially with his taste for the high life. VERB: V n 3. Ruin is the state of no longer having any money. The farmers say recent inflation has driven them to the brink of ruin. N-UNCOUNT 4. Ruin is the state of being severely damaged or spoiled, or the process of reaching this state. The vineyards were falling into ruin... N-UNCOUNT 5. The ruins of something are the parts of it that remain after it has been severely damaged or weakened. The new Turkish republic he helped to build emerged from the ruins of a great empire... N-PLURAL: the N of n 6. The ruins of a building are the parts of it that remain after the rest has fallen down or been destroyed. One dead child was found in the ruins almost two hours after the explosion... N-COUNT: usu pl 7. see also ruined 8. If something is in ruins, it is completely spoiled. Its heavily-subsidized economy is in ruins... PHRASE: oft v-link PHR 9. If a building or place is in ruins, most of it has been destroyed and only parts of it remain. The abbey was in ruins... PHRASE: usu v-link PHR

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

roo'-in (haricah, etc.; rhegma): "Ruin," the translation of haricah (Am 9:11; compare Ac 15:16, where the Revised Version (British and American) Greek text, ta katestrammena), and of a number of other Hebrew words: in Lu 6:49 rhegma, "breakage," is used both in a literal sense (Isa 23:13; 25:2, of fallen buildings; Eze 27:27; 31:13, of a state or people; Lu 6:49, of a house, etc.) and with a moral significance (Pr 26:28). the Revised Version margin correctly renders mikhshol in Eze 18:30 "stumblingblock" (the King James Version "ruin"), and the Revised Version (British and American) in Eze 21:15 "stumblings" (the King James Version "ruins"). The Revised Version (British and American) has "ruins" for the King James Version "desolations" in Ezr 9:9, margin "waste places"; Ps 74:3; "in their ruins" for "with their mattocks" (2Ch 34:6, margin " `with their axes.' The Hebrew is obscure"); "midst of the ruin" for "desolation" (Job 30:14); "their ruin" for "their wickedness" (Pr 21:12). "Ruinous" is the translation of mappalah (Isa 17:1) and of natsah (2Ki 19:25; Isa 37:26).

W. L. Walker

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Destruction, discomfiture, overthrow, defeat, wreck, perdition, fall, downfall, prostration, subversion, undoing, shipwreck. 2. Bane, pest, mischief, destruction, perdition. 3. Wreck. II. v. a. 1. Destroy, demolish, overthrow, subvert, overturn, overwhelm, defeat, ruinate. 2. Impoverish, bring to want, reduce to poverty.

Moby Thesaurus

Waterloo, abuse, afterglow, afterimage, ancient manuscript, annihilate, antique, antiquity, archaism, artifact, assault, atrophy, attack, baffle, balance, balk, bane, bankrupt, bankruptcy, barbarize, batter, beat, beat all hollow, beat hollow, beating, beggar, beldam, bereavement, best, betray, blast, blight, bloodbath, blue ruin, bollix up, botch, brave, break, break up, breakdown, breakup, bring to ruin, brutalize, burn, bust, butcher, butt, butt end, candle ends, carcass, carnage, carry on, cave painting, chaff, challenge, checkmate, circumvent, clean out, collapse, condemn, confound, confront, confusion, conquering, conquest, consume, consumption, contravene, corrupt, corrupting, corruption, cost, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, crash, crone, cross, crumbling, crush, curse, damage, damn, damnation, dash, dead loss, deal destruction, deathblow, debacle, debase, debasement, debasing, debauch, debit, debris, decadence, decay, deceive, decimate, decimation, declension, decline, deface, defeat, defile, defilement, defiling, defloration, deflower, deflowering, defy, degeneracy, degenerate, degeneration, degradation, degrading, demolish, denial, denudation, deplete, depredate, depredation, deprivation, desecrate, desolate, desolation, despoil, despoilment, despoliation, destroy, destroyer, destruction, detriment, detritus, devastate, devastation, devolution, devour, dilapidate, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, disfigure, dish, dishonor, dishonoring, disintegration, disorganization, dispossession, disrepair, disrupt, disruption, dissolution, dissolve, divestment, do in, dodo, dotard, downfall, downgrade, drain, draw, drub, drubbing, elude, end, engorge, eolith, expense, fag end, failure, fall, filings, fix, flatten, flummox, foil, fold up, force, forfeit, forfeiture, fossil, fragments, frustrate, fuddy-duddy, gin, go on, gobble, gobble up, gut, gut with fire, hag, hammer, harm, havoc, hecatomb, hide, hiding, holdover, holocaust, hors de combat, hulk, hurt, husks, impair, impoverish, incinerate, injury, knock the chocks, lambaste, lambasting, lather, lathering, lay in ruins, lay waste, lead astray, leavings, leftovers, lick, licking, liquidation, loot, loser, losing, losing streak, loss, louse up, maim, mangle, mar, mastery, maul, mere wreck, mess up, mezzolith, microlith, mischief, mislead, mug, mutilate, nemesis, neolith, nervous wreck, nonplus, nullify, odds and ends, offscourings, old fogy, old geezer, orts, outclass, outdo, outfight, outgeneral, outmaneuver, outpoint, outrage, outrun, outsail, outshine, overcoming, overthrow, overturn, paleolith, parings, pauper, pauperize, perdition, perplex, petrification, petrified forest, petrified wood, petroglyph, pillage, plateaulith, play havoc with, play hob with, poison, privation, pulverize, put, quietus, rage, rags, ramp, rampage, rant, rape, rattletrap, ravage, rave, ravish, raze, refuse, relic, relics, reliquiae, remainder, remains, remnant, residue, residuum, rest, riot, roach, roar, robbery, rubbish, rubble, ruinate, ruination, ruins, rump, sabotage, sack, sacrifice, savage, sawdust, scotch, scourings, scraps, screw up, scuttle, seduce, seducing, seduction, settle, shadow, shambles, shatter, shavings, shipwreck, sink, skeleton, skin, skin alive, slaughter, smash, soil, sow chaos, spike, spoil, spoliate, spoliation, stonewall, storm, straw, stripping, stubble, stump, subdual, subduing, subjugation, sully, survival, swallow up, sweepings, taking away, tear, tear around, terrorize, thrash, thrashing, throw into disorder, thwart, total loss, trace, trim, trimming, triumph over, trounce, trouncing, uglify, unbuild, undo, undoing, unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, unmake, upheave, upset, vandalism, vandalize, vanquishment, vaporize, vestige, violate, vitiate, vitiating, vitiation, waste, whip, whipping, wipe out, wiping out, witch, worst, wrack, wrack and ruin, wreak havoc, wreck, wreckage